Zepelim

If the eye is entirely won, give nothing or almost nothing to the ear…and vice versa, if the ear is entirely won, give nothing to the eye. One can not be at the same time all eye and all ear. – Robert Bresson, Notes on Cinematography

This episode of Zepelim sets out to make the eye impatient by presenting the sounds of non-dialogue scenes edited from 10 Manoel de Oliveira films. The cinema of Oliveira is known for its careful balance of image, words, and silence. There is a frequent use of static frames and extremely long takes wherein the characters deliver their lines while facing the camera, as if their dialogue was taking place in a play. This way, the spectator’s attention is deflected from the image and zeroes in on the words being spoken. In contrast, scenes without dialogue gain their signficance as highly visual experiences – the ear tends to rest while the eye “is entirely won”. From the perspective of someone working in radio, I became interested in the auditory ambiance of Oliveira’s wordless scenes and background sounds that under normal film-viewing circumstances might blend in with the process of intaking image and either get overlooked or woven into the fabric of the image.

By separating sound from its image, Zepelim aims to explore the rich auditory dynamics of Oliveira’s non-dialogue scenes. The sounds presented in this collage are not organized according to the films’ chronology or storylines. Rather, they are grouped as much as possible according to other properties like volume, pitch, and intensity of the samples as well as by common themes like footsteps, motors roaring, wind blowing, characters breathing, wood creaking, etc. In the context of radio, these sounds become the focal point while unique new visual layers are free to form in the listener’s imagination. The sounds were taken from the following films: The Hunt (1963), Past and Present (1972), Benilde or The Virgin Mother (1975), Voyage to the Beginning of the World (1997), My Case (1987), The Cannibals (1988), Word and Utopia (2000), The Uncertainty Principle (2002), Belle Toujours (2006) and Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl (2009).

Manoel de Oliveira was born in Porto (1908) to a wealthy family from the North of Portugal. His father was the first man in Portugal to produce light bulbs. The young Oliveira had an ecclectic youth – competing at the pole vault, working as a professional racecar driver, and even performing as a trapeze artist. When the dictator Antonio Salazar seized power in 1932, Oliveira was just beginning his filmmaking career. His first films were documentaries (like “Douro, Faina Fluvial“), but in the early 40s he made Aniki-Bóbó, his first feature-length film. Over the following decades, Oliveira continually pioneered new styles of cinema and eventually secured his place as one of Europe’s most prolific and important filmmakers. At the age of 80, he hit the pace of making one film per year. This year Oliveira is 103 and still going – the world’s oldest active filmmaker.

Carlo Patrão

Zepelim dedicado ao sono. Se passamos cerca de 23 anos da nossa vida a dormir, porque não explorar melhor esse fenómeno?

1. Gregg Kowalsky – I-IV (Tape Chants, 2009)

2. Dolphins into the Future – Untitled #2

3.Celer – Normal Sadness (Tropical, 2008)

4.Gregg Kowalsky – VI-VII (Tape Chants, 2009)

Com excertos de:

Candi Raudebaugh – Sleep Countdown

“Health and Well Being Programme”

Autor desconhecido – “My Dream”

Delia Derbyshire – Running (The Dreams)

José Afonso Biscaia

No Zepelim desta semana, construímos o nosso programa em torno de questões relacionadas com a Indústria Tabagista. Para tal, recuámos até à década de 50 para escutarmos o programa televisivo Your Hit Parade, patrocinado pela marca de tabaco Lucky Strike. Your Hit Parade, era um programa semanal emitido pela NBC entre 1950 e 1959 nas televisões norte-americanas, cuja existência remontava já ao ano de 1935, mas apenas em formato radiofónico. Durante as suas emissões eram apresentadas interpretações ao vivo do top 7 (“Lucky Seven Songs of the Week“) de temas mais vendidos nos Estados Unidos, tendo em conta as faixas mais tocadas nas Rádios e nas Jukeboxes espalhadas pelo país. Apesar do processo de apuramento dos temas mais ouvidos numa determinada semana nunca ter sido claramente exposto, Your Hit Parade usufruía de um relativo sucesso. Porém, ao longo da década de 50, viu a sua audiência diminuir progressivamente à medida que o Rock’n'Roll se massificava nos ouvidos mais jovens. Simultâneamente, a Lucky Strike encontrava um novo objecto alvo para vender a sua imagem de arrojo e rebeldia, longe das baladas quase assépticas de Your Hit Parade – antítese do que viria a ser a década de 60. Ao longo das emissões de Your Hit Parade, os temas foram cantados por vários interpretes como Dorothy Collins (1950-59), Russell Arms (1952-57), Snooky Lanson (1950-57) e Gisèle MacKenzie (1953-57). A liderar a Lucky Strike Orchestra de Your Hit Parade esteve Raymond Scott entre 1950 e 1957.
Dorothy Collins & Raymond Scott

Raymond Scott , músico, maestro, investigador, génio inventor e director do departamento de pesquisa e desenvolvimento electrónico para a Motown, era aqui responsável pelos arranjos dos temas mas vendidos dos E.U.A., revestindo as suas estruturas clássicas, com orquestrações vanguardistas. Algumas das suas composições originais foram mais tarde utilizadas em cartoons como Looney Tunes (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck), The Ren and Stimpy Show ou The Simpsons (um dos temas mais conhecidos chama-se “Powerhouse” de 1936 e pode ser escutado aqui). Raymond Scott acabaria por casar com a cantora residente de Your Hit Parade Dorothy Collins.

Ao longo desta emissão de Zepelim colocamos em paralelo as duas Indústrias, a do Entretenimento e do Tabaco consumando os seus múltiplos denominadores comuns. Podemos escutar a par do episódio de Your Hit Parade de 2 de Maio de 1953 (no qual, curiosamente, a canção April in Portugal, ocupa o sétimo lugar da contagem dos temas mais vendidos nos Estados Unidos), programas de incentivo tabágico, recortes noticiosos, a voz dos principais intervenientes do palco da Indústria Tabágica, anúncios publicitários a marcas de tabaco, entrevistas, etc.

Faixas utilizadas na colagem sonora:

Geir Jenssen – Under The Glacier I (excerto) [Biophon Records, 1982]

Tetsu Inoue – Particular Moments (excerto) [Yolo, Din Records, 2005

Jimmy Behan - Signs Of Live [The Echo Garden, Audiobulb, 2009 ]

Biosphere - Knives In Hens (excerto/loop) [VA, Touch Sampler.3,1998, Touch.]

Biosphere - Dawn At Vara (excerto/loop) [ Commissioned Works, 1994]

Hopen – Early [What's happened to mat collishaw ?, 2009]

Scanner - Moscow Radio [Unreleased, 2008]

Taylor Deupree – Quiet_C [January, Spekk, 2004]

Raymond Scott – Backward Beeps [1953-69 Manhattan Research,Inc.]

Heribert Friedl - Back (excerpt) [back_forward, Non Visual Objects, 2006]

Jez Riley French – …Audible Silence – Enter (Kettle’s yard, Cambridge) [2009]

Help Is On The Way - E (excerto) [Help Is On The Way, 2009]

Help Is On The Way - C (excerto) [Help Is On The Way, 2009]

Jim Mcauley & Nels Cline – Froggy’s Magic Twanger [Ultimate Frog, Drip Audio, 2008]

Scanner – Returning (excerto) [2008]

- Os restantes sons foram retirados da base Archive e youtube.

“Be happy, go Lucky,

Be happy, go Lucky Strike

Be happy, go Lucky,

Go Lucky Strike today!”

Carlo Patrão